1A place or situation in which all visitors are welcome.

1. 1.1North American A day when members of the public are invited to visit a place or institution, especially one to which they do not normally have access.
   the president spent all morning greeting thousands of visitors to a White House open house

   British term open day

   Example sentencesExamples

   • In contrast, few people attend open houses or public meetings, several councillors noted.
   • The partnership also holds regular open houses, inviting the public to the facility for test rides.
   • It also has public meetings and open houses set for this month.
   • The Mississauga Plant holds an annual open house for the public.
   • Jordy's school had an open house and his teacher had invited us to come.
   • To that end, our chapter has annually been involved in a variety of projects, from open houses at individual institutions to interactive displays at a large local mall.
   • We must engage the public on this issue at the open houses in March, in order that the proponents and decisionmakers can take the preference of Richmond residents into consideration.
   • The public is invited to a weekend open house to tour the new facility, which is the spectacularly renovated Riverside Silk Mill on the bank of the Grand River.
   • At the end of construction, the facility held an open house for the public and staff members so they could see the culmination of the project.
   • Councillors, as the most grassroots and local elected representatives, should be continually meeting the people, hosting community open houses and fostering public information flow.
   • The night of Miranda's preschool open house, Miranda was only 2, the family gathered around a long table at a local Italian restaurant.
   • FRAG is a main source of public input for us, but we also host annual open houses where the public can come and ask us questions, and we speak to schools and community groups about what we are doing.
   • Tuesday Jarolimek held an open house for the public to see the new turbine and for representatives of state and federal agencies to address questions regarding development of wind-generated power in Idaho.
   • There will be some food for the American Studies welcoming event so please attend the American Studies open house.
   • The open house was a no charge affair, so members of the public could attend and look at the aircraft and watch them fly.
   • The Perimeter Institute will be holding a public open house Saturday to showcase its new building on the site of the old Memorial Auditorium next to Waterloo Park.
   • The power of Ferron's art was clearly visible last Sunday as I watched the public react to it during the museum's open house.
   • The open house gave members of UW and the K-W community a chance to explore the centre, find out about upcoming events, socialize with others, and discover how the centre functions.
   • We'll be celebrating IT Week with an open house and by offering people free computer access.
   • You need staff members who are reliable and will be there during the open house.
   • Our campaign plans were discussed at our first public meeting after the open houses.
   • Major government organizations will host a public open house Wednesday at the Orem, Utah Senior Friendship Center to discuss transportation proposals.
   • She decides (as she does every day, really) to have an open house, inviting anyone and everyone over to see what she did that morning.
   • Sanborn says that the 400 sites in last year's open house attracted 6,000 visits, and the organizers are hoping for 9,000 in 2005.
   • Stories were collected that preserved past memories, and these were shared through public displays and open houses.
   • To date, the city has held several open houses and public meetings about the plans, he said.
   • With memories of the past season's tours, open houses, parent visits still vivid in your mind, make a list of priorities in terms of improving and expanding your marketing package.
   • In August, the doctoral program will hold an open house to introduce students to the public and to recruit other students interested in the program.
   • As well, the daycare is planning an open house for May 6 to invite the community to see the results of several years of hard work.
   • The traffic police should hold open houses so that the general public and independent experts can evaluate the design of the changes and offer their suggestions and therefore bring in elements that may have been overlooked.
   • She loved the countryside and the things of nature and also kept an open house where the visits of her family and friends were eagerly awaited.
   • We are participating in career and job fairs at many of the nation's minority colleges, holding open houses where we invite potential applicants to come in and spend time with our employees to learn about our career opportunities.
   • Every winter holiday season, the school's open house celebration consists of children reciting to the assembled parents, sometimes solo and sometimes in pairs.
   • Those same parents also visit during open house.
   • It is in that context that Manitoba Pork Council staff member Peter Mah attended the public open house (at Vassar), representing the interests of area livestock producers and industry.
   • The school of architecture, which held a public open house last weekend, relocated to the former Riverside Silk Mills site in downtown Cambridge.
   • Hold an open house at your co-op, and have members and employees on hand to lead tours and talk about the business and why it operates as a co-op.
   • Then there will be a 60 day comment period, and an open house for the public in early January.
   • The new equipment began operating in November and was introduced to the public at an open house held in the Downtown Hotel Conference Room on November 12.
   • The public can comment on the options at open houses slated to take place between March 10 and April 3 in the area.
2. 1.2North American, Australian, NZ An occasion when real estate offered for sale can be viewed by prospective buyers without an appointment.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • They may not have the money of the hedge fund managers who line up at bonus time at the open houses for $5 million homes, and their numbers do not equal that of health care workers.
   • I've known of a few people who didn't intend to change houses, but just popped into a neighbourhood open house out of curiosity.
   • That said, Corcoran admits that the number of visitors at open houses around New York City has fallen off by 27% in recent months.
   • She helped me pick out the Ikea office furniture; she accompanied me to Costco for the first load of sodas and pretzels for the kitchen; she spent hours planning the open house.
   • Larry and I had 2 hours to kill during the open house today (anybody wanna buy a condo?).
   • I did one last set of open houses today - near Atwater market - and almost, almost fell in love.
   • So I would stomp around these open houses glaring at anyone who looked like an evil investor and we ended up renting for another year and then moving in with mum and dad.
   • I have now been three years in my humble home and continue to laud the day I decided to come to the open house.
   • There is going to be a showing here tomorrow for realtors and an open house here on Sunday.
   • It was an open house, and we were the only ones there.